Antifluctuating system for gas distribution.



G. WIEBKE. ANTIFLUCTUATING SYSTEM FOR GAS DISTRIBUTION. APPLICATION FILED 00119, 1910.

1,033,364. Patented July 23, 1912.

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COLUlBlA PLAIOORAPN co. WASHINGTON. D. C

Inventor.-

CHARLES WIEBKE, 0F NEWARK, NEW JERSEY.

ANTIFLUCTUATING SYSTEM FOR GAS DISTRIBUTION.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 23, 1912.

Application filed October 19, 1910. Serial No. 587,840.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES WIEBKE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Newark, in the of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Antifiuctuating Systems for Gas Distribution, of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings, forming part thereof.

My invention relates to antifluctuating devices for gas distribution systems and has for its object to equalize the pressure in such a system and thereby to remove the cause for fluctuation. It is applicable for the equalization of pressure in gas mains, in which, owing to insufficient capacity or other causes, the pressure may fluctuate; it is also applicableto those systems in which gas is supplied through the same supply pipe and meter to one set of constant demand gasusing devices, that is to say, gas-using devices which require a steady flow of the gas, such, for example, as gas lights, and to another set of intermittent-demand gasusing devices, or gas-using devices which make heavy pulsating or intermittent drafts or demands upon the supply of gas, such, for example, as a gas engine. In such a sys tern, the intermittent feed of the gas engine produces supply of gas flowing to the lights, and Causes the fluctuation of the lights. Many attempts have been made to solve this problem, but, so far as I am advised, none of numerous regulating devices heretofore tried has produced steady lights, Whereas the present invention has proved a complete solution of the problem.

In carrying out my invention, the lights and the gas engine may be supplied from the same meter, by separate lines. At the farther or outer portion of the light line a pressure-compensating gas reservoir of sufficiently large capacity is connected so as to communicate with the light line through a single continuously freely open communication constituting a combined inlet and outlet for the reservoir. In advance of the lights and engine another like gas reservoir is similarly connected. Each reservoir performs a substantial regulating function and county of Essex and Statefiuctuations or variations in thein some instances only one may be used, while in other instances additional reservoirs may be provided connected at other points. With the two reservoirs arranged as described in an ordinary system, the regulation is substantially perfect, no fluctuation of the lights being perceptible to the eye.

I shall now describe the accompanying drawings showing in elevation an embodiment of my invention, and shall thereafter point out my invention in claims.

In the embodiment of my invention illustrated in the drawings, a gas main 1 has leading therefrom a supply conduit or supply line 2, in which is connected a meter 3, which may he of usual construction. Beyond the meter the supply line 2 divides into an engine line or engine supply pipe 4 leading to a gas engine 5, and into a light line or light service pipe 6. A constant-capacity pressure-compensating gas reservoir 7 of large capacity is connected, through a single continuously freely open communication constituting a combined inlet and outlet, as shown in the drawings, to the service line or light line 6 in spur relation at a point substantially removed or remote from the supply line 2 and engine line 4, and is shown as connected to the light line 6 at its farther or outer end. The gas reservoir 7 may be simply a metal tank of the required capacity, and that is the kind of reservoir illustrated in the drawings. The light line 6 is shown as having connected thereto intermediate of its ends the usual drop pipes or burner branches 8, terminating in usual burners or gas tips 9 and provided with usual turn cocks or cutoff valves 10. A second constant-capacity pressure-compensating gas reservoir 11, similar to the reservoir 7, is connected in the system through a single continuously freely open connecting ipe or spur connection 12 at a point beyond the meter and in advance of the lights and engine and is shown as connected to the supply line 2 in proximity to the meter 3 and between the meter 3 and the branching point of the gas engine line and the light line.

In the operation of the device, the gas reservoirs 7 and 11 are charged with gas under substantially the normal pressure delivered by the main 1. The burners 9 connected in the light line 6 are constant-demand gasusing devices, or gas-using devices which require a substantially steady flow of gas, and without these pressurecompensating reservoirs the heavy intermittent drafts of the gas engine 5 upon the supply of gas flowing through the engine line 4 and coming from the main 1 through the meter 3 would, at each draft or intake stroke of the engine, so greatly diminish the pressure in the light line 6 as to cause great fluctuations of the lights at the burners 9. In the present invert tion, when the pressure at the inner end or supply end of the light line 6 is diminished by an intake stroke of the gas engine 5, the gas reservoir 7 at the outer end of the light line 6, by reason of the gas stored under pressure therein, will act to keep up the normal supply pressure in the light line 6 and will also constitute a reservoir supply of gas for supplying the lights 9 until the normal pressure at the inner end of the light line 6 is restored, the reservoir 7 being of large enough capacity to keep up such supply for the required interval without a substantial diminution of the pressure therein. The result will be a steady burning of the lights 9, notwithstanding the fact that the light line 6 may receive its supply of gas unevenly or intermittently. The gas reservoir 11 cooperates with the gas reservoir 7 in such a way as to partially remove the cause for the drop in pressure in the light line 6. The reserve supply of gas contained under normal pressure in the reservoir 11 responds quickly to the sudden intake demand of the gas engine 5. in this way the gas in the reservoir l1 constitutes a reserve supply for supplying gas to the engine 5 more rapidly during the short intermittent periods or intervals of heavy demand than it could be supplied alone through the supply pipe 2 and meter 3, and thereby prevents so marked a reduction in pressure in the engine line 4 and in the connected light line 6 as would otherwise occur. It is also to be noted that the gas supply through the gas main itself may be variable or fluctuating, for example, as the result of the proximity of another gas engine in the immediate neighborhood, and I have found that with the gas reservoirs as used by me and above described, there is no perceptible fluctuation of the lights in consequence of such variations in the supply pressure. The uniformity of flow of gas also prevents racing of the meter 3, and, by reason of the fact that sufficient gas will be supplied to meet the heavy intake demands of the engine 5, the efliciency of the engine is increased. The two gas reservoirs 7 and 11 when embodied in a gas distributing system substantially in the manner shown in the drawings and as herein described, coact and cooperate in such a manner as to assure substantial steadiness of flame at the burners 9.

It is obvious that various modifications may be made in the construction shown and above particularly described within the principle and scope of my invention.

I claim:

1. A gas distributing system including a gas supply and including, in combination with a gas-using device connected in the system, a pressure-compensating gas reservoir of constant capacity having a continuously freely open combined inlet and outlet connected in the system as a spur connection in relation to the gas supply.

2. A gas distributing system comprising, in combination, a service line supplied with gas, a constant-demand gas-using device connected thereto, a supply pipe with which one end of the service line connects and from which it is supplied with gas, a device intermittently using gas connected to the supply pipe, and a pressure-compensating gas reservoir having a continuously freely open combined inlet and outlet connected in spur relation to the service line at a point remote from the supply pipe, so that such reservoir receives gas under the normal pressure of the system.

3. A gas distributing system comprising an engine line supplied with gas, a gas engine connected to the engine line, a light line connected at one of its ends to the engine line, lights connected to the light line, and a pressure-compensating gas reservoir having a continuously freely open combined inlet and outlet connected in spur relation to the light line at a point remote from the engine line, so that such reservoir receives gas under the normal pressure of the system.

4. A gas distributing system comprising an engine line supplied with gas, a gas engine connected to the engine line, a light line connected at one of its ends to the engine line, lights connected to the light line, a pressure-compensating gas reservoir having a continuously freely open combined inlet and outlet in spur relation connected to the light line at a point remote from the engine line, and a second pressure-compensating gas reservoir having a continuously freely open combined inlet and outlet connected in the system in advance of the lights and engine and as a spur connection in relation to the gas supply, so that each such reservoir receives gas under the normal pressure of the system.

5. A gas distributing system having, in combination, constant-demand gas-using devices connected therein, and a plurality of pressure-compensating gas reservoirs each having a continuously freely open combined inlet and outlet connected in spur relation in the system so that said gas-using devices are connected in the system between such reservoirs and so that each such reservoir receives gas under the normal pressure of the system.

6. A gas distributing system comprising, in combination, a service line supplied With gas, a constant-demand gasusing device connected thereto, a supply pipe with Which one end of the service line connects, and from which it is supplied With gas, a device in termittently using gas connected to the supply pipe, a pressure-compensating gas reservoir having a continuously freely open combined inlet and outlet connected in spur relation to the service line at a point remote from the supply pipe, and a second pressure-compensating gas reservoir having a continuously freely open combined inlet and outlet connected in spur relation in the system in advance of both of said gas-using devices, so that each such reservoir receives gas under the normal pressure of the system. In testimony whereof I have affixed my signature in presence of two Witnesses.

CHARLES WIEBKE.

Witnesses WM. ASHLEY KELLY, BERNARD CoWEN.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C. 

